But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became “a Man of Sorrows,” that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse. He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death. Behold Him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, upon the cross! The spotless Son of God took upon Himself the burden of sin. He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between God and man. This wrung from His lips the anguished cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:46.
But this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father’s heart a love for man, not to make Him willing to save. No, no! The Father loves us, not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because He loves us.
This text is from the book Steps to Christ by Ellen G. White. Chapter 1.
Prayer
God thank you for sending Jesus Christ to be our propitiation, help us to love you more and more each day.
